Refrigeration load makes every grocery bill a target
Compressors, cases and 24-hour operation create demand and power factor errors that repeat every month.
Who we serve
Supermarket and grocery operators running 20 to 1,000 stores with heavy refrigeration load and thin store-level margins.
- meters audited across 410 utilities
- 186,000+meters audited across 410 utilities
- checks run on every bill line
- 38checks run on every bill line
- median time from claim filing to credit or check
- 47 daysmedian time from claim filing to credit or check
- upfront cost on the Recovery Audit plan
- $0upfront cost on the Recovery Audit plan
Where the money leaks
Refrigeration drives demand charges
Compressor starts and defrost cycles set the billed peak for the month. A single spike can set a charge that a ratchet then carries for up to a year.
Power factor penalties hide in the detail
Motor-heavy stores can be billed a power factor adjustment. The line is small on any one bill and easy to miss across hundreds of stores.
Meters and CT ratios change in remodels
Panel upgrades and service changes can leave the billing multiplier out of step with the equipment actually installed.
Water and sewer charges follow the wrong volume
Stores with evaporative condensers or ice machines lose water to the air but can be billed sewer on all of it.
What we usually find
- Demand ratchet errors
Billed demand set by a one-time spike or a metering fault, then carried forward by a ratchet clause.
- Power factor penalties
Adjustments applied from bad reactive power readings, or after capacitor banks were installed and the utility was not told.
- Meter multiplier errors
CT or PT ratios on the bill that do not match the equipment on site, after upgrades or meter swaps.
- Sewer charges on evaporated water
Sewer billed on water that never reached the drain, such as makeup water for evaporative condensers.
How it runs
- 1
Ingest bills and interval data
Where the utility provides it, we pull interval data with the bill so demand peaks can be checked, not just totals.
- 2
Rebuild each bill from the tariff
We recalculate demand, energy, power factor and taxes from the published schedule and compare to what was charged.
- 3
Verify meter and equipment records
Multipliers and CT ratios are checked against meter data and, where needed, a site photo or electrician's letter.
- 4
Package the evidence
Each claim includes the tariff page, the recalculated bill and the meter evidence the utility asks for.
- 5
Recover and re-check
After credits post, we re-audit the account to confirm the next bill reflects the correction.
Customer story
A regional grocery chain recovers $884,000 from stores' utility bills
Read the story- $990,000
- overbilling identified across 46 claims
- $884,000
- refunds and credits received to date
- 41 of 46
- claims accepted in full or in part
Questions we get asked
Often, yes. Where interval data is available we look at the load shape around the peak. A single reading far outside the store's normal pattern is a reason to ask the utility to verify.
Claims are factual and documented, and we follow each utility's dispute process. We do not file aggressive or unsupported claims.
No. We work from bills, utility-provided interval data and records you already hold.
Yes. The audit covers electric, gas, water and sewer bills where the utility publishes the rules we audit against.
Find out what your utilities owe you.
Connect bills for up to 50 meters. Get the findings report in about three weeks. Pay nothing unless money comes back.
- from bill access to first findings report
- 21 daysfrom bill access to first findings report
- of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part
- 94%of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part